Dept of Sociology

DEPT OF SOCIOLOGY

Researcher : Bakken B

Project Title:	Crime and Punishment in China
Investigator(s):	Bakken B
Department:	Sociology
Source(s) of Funding:	Seed Funding Programme for Basic Research
Start Date:	04/2007

Abstract:

According to the United Nations’ cross-cultural International Crime Victimization Survey of approximately sixty countries, among all of the countries’ residents the large representative sample of Chinese respondents surveyed were the most likely to favour harsh punishment (Zvekic and Alvazzi Del Frate 1995, Mayhew and van Kesteren, 2003). It has also been observed that China today executes more people than the entire rest of the world, and that recent surveys in China show unusually high levels of support for capital punishment (Fu, 2000). My project seeks to answer why such attitudes and practices prevail in today’s China. This will entail a comprehensive study of the role of punitiveness in China. I am convinced the topic should not be confined to the technicalities of law or analyses of criminology, but should be linked to a cross-disciplinary approach to explain fundamental cultural, moral, and structural changes in society. My focus is on present day China, but I see punishment in the perspective of a cultural and historical longue durée. I will engage the issues of Chinese punitive practices and attitudes through empirical research extending along several interrelated fronts, combining extensive interviewing with archival studies, a wide range of Chinese and Western scholarship, as well as local and comparative survey material. The PI is fluent in Chinese (putonghua), and brings to the research a wide range of knowledge on China. While my main focus is in sociology/criminology, I intend to approach the issue from different angles according to my background in sinology, social history, sociology and criminology. The effort will be to explain the experiences of the People's Republic of China, with a keen observance of historical sociology, into a new framework. Thus, in addition to examining the state-imposed system of punishment in terms of political and social control, I wish to go beyond that in an attempt to describe what might be termed a ”punitive society”. In doing this, I distance myself from the old paradigm of totalitarianism, where an all-powerful state seemed to be in full control of all aspects of punishment, which we regard as far too simplistic to be able to explain adequately the phenomena in question. Although some of this literature is still valuable, the analytical framework is insufficient, often leading to flawed conclusions found in works like Lifton (1961), Friedrich & Brzezinski (1968), and Wu (1992). While a punitive system concerns the state apparatus of power and control, it also touches upon wider issues of moral values, rationalities, and the emotional forces and sensibilities held in a society. Pieter Spierenburg (1984) has described the evolution of repression and punishment in European societies from the medieval period throughout industrialization, basing his analysis on Norbert Elias’ (1982) sociological/historical theory on the Civilization Process, which ties the control of individual impulses to the growth of powerful states and courts. He argues that the intensity of emotions (and thereby the use of cruelty and violence) during the medieval period was ”tamed” or contained by the introduction of the nation state, and that the acceptance of ”blood” sacrifice and violence decreases over the centuries, while sensibilities about suffering increase. This approach has been supported by rich empirical evidence, and has been utilized to explain developments in crime, violence and punishment in medieval and early modern Europe (Sveri 1974, Diederiks 1989) to mention a few), but the thesis has never previously been tested against the Chinese experience. I refute the idea that Europe represents a microcosm of humankind, and it would add to the general knowledge of crime, violence, and punishment to investigate recent Chinese experience in these terms, exposing a possible European empirical bias in civilization theory. China does not have a cultural or historical inclination towards harsh punishment as some have claimed (Gao 2004). On the contrary there is much evidence of restorative justice and what I term ”legal mercy” (McKnight 1982) in the Chinese tradition. I will try to prove that the cultural argument is inadequate in explaining the present hard punishment regime in the People’s Republic of China. I do not belong to a ”school”, however, and the civilization approach or the historical school of criminology is but one approach to the issue of punitiveness that I will explore. I will seek alternative ways of explanation by drawing upon modern sociological theoeretical approaches to punishment like those of David Garland (1990), to mention one of the main works in the field. One alternative approach is that war and revolutionary violence legitimated by the state carry higher levels of violence into peacetime and post-revolution decades (Archer & Gartner 1984), and that part of the punitive processes we see today can be explained by the after-effects of the traumatic upheavals in recent Chinese history. I will also address theories of the violence triggered by purity and political campaigns (Schmitt 1932). I will also need to locate Chinese beliefs about punitiveness in the historical practices of a Leninist state, dominated by Mao Zedong, that for decades tightly controlled education and mass communication and propagated a belief in class struggle (Mao, 1927/67), but also include Deng Xiaoping’s belief in harsh deterrence in that overall picture. to be able to explain present practices (Deng 1984). For reference list, see attachment

List of Research Outputs

Bakken B., Chinese Crime and Punishment 1978–2020: Looking Back and Making Forecasts (forthcoming 2008), The China Review. 2007, 8, No.1: 30 pages.

Bakken B., Crime, Policing and Punishment in China, 2nd edition. Boulder, Col., Rowman & Littlefield, 2007.

Bakken B., Criminological Modernization Theory Revisited: Crime and Deviance in China, Invited to Fudan University Workshop of the PRC 17th Partry Congress as a discussant, and to lecture at the Masters Course in Chinese Politics at the Fudan University Politics Department/Nordic Centre of Fudan University, November. 25-28, 2007. 2007.

Bakken B., Death Penalty Reforms and Violent Crime in The People's Republic of China, Invited lecture at Faculty of Law, Centre of Asian Law, The University of Melbourne, July 6, 2007. 2007.

Bakken B., Disorder and Legal Reforms: Understanding Human Rights in China, Invited lecture given August 23, 2007 at the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oslo, in connection with the Ministry's bilateral Human Rights Dialogue with China. 2007.

Bakken B., Falü renci guanzhi zhongxi bijiao (Legal Mercy in Chinese and Comparative Perspective) , In: Zhongguo falüshi xueyuan (China Society of Legal History) ed , Zhongguo wenhua yu fazhi (Chinese culture and rule of law) . Beijing, Shehui kexue wenji chubanshe (Social Sciences Academic Press, 2007, 399-416.

Bakken B., Invited and signed contract to contribute to the "Encyclopedia of Moderen China" to write on "Moral Education" in China. The invitation comes from the Encyclopedia Editorial Board and Editor in Chief, Prof. David Pong, University of Delaware (forthcoming) . 2007.

Bakken B., In: Gerald Postiglione (ed.), New Crime in China: Public Order and Human Rights, The China Journal. Armonk, M.E.Sharpe, 2007, No. 58: 160-162.

Bakken B., In: Neil J. Diamant, Stanley B. Lubman and Kevin J. O’Brien (eds), Engaging the Law in China: State, Society, and Possibilities for Justice, The China Journal. Palo Alto, Stanford University Press, 2007, No. 58: 157-160.

Bakken B., The Culture of Revenge and the Power of Politics, International conference on "Culture and Power", arranged by The University of Oslo, Norway, December. 13-17, 2007.

Bakken B., Violence and Punishment in the People Republic of China. Recent Trends and Reforms, Lecture given at Faculty of Law, The Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, The University of Oslo, August 15, 2007. 2007.

Bakken B., Violent Crime in China, Chinese Sociology and Anthropology (forthcoming 2008) . 2007, 110 pages.

Bakken B., Vold og straff i fattigfolkets Kina (Poverty,Violence and Punishment in China) (In Norwegian) (forthcoming 2008), Materialisten . 2007.

Bakken B., “Law and Order in the People’s Republic of China: Power Struggles in the Legal-Political Sector at the Time of the 17th Party Congress”. , Paper presented at the University of Bergen, Dept. of Comparative Politics workshop 15-21 April 2008. Workshop held in cooperation with Fudan University, Dept. of Politics.. 2008.

Researcher : Chan CCY

List of Research Outputs

Chu Y.K. and Chan C.C.Y., Policing One-woman Brothels in Hong Kong: Alternative Strategies, Asian Policing. 2007, 5(1): 3-14.

Researcher : Chiu WK

List of Research Outputs

Chiu W.K., An Overview of Juvenile Drug Offender Rehabilitation in Hong Kong - Implications for Law Enforcement, Research Postgraduate Conference April 26, 2008, Faculty of Social Sciences, The University of Hong Kong. 2008.

Researcher : Chu YK

Project Title:	Triad involvement in economic organised crime in Hong Kong
Investigator(s):	Chu YK
Department:	Sociology
Source(s) of Funding:	Small Project Funding
Start Date:	11/2003

Abstract:

To describe the trends of credit card fraud, pirated compact discs and currency counterfeiting in Hong Kong in the last decade; to analyse how these three counterfeiting products are manufactured and distributed; to assess the role of triads in the operation of these three types of economic organised crime; to exam how to combat economic organised crime from legal, law enforcement, private sector, and community perspectives.

Project Title:	Crime in Campus in the University of Hong Kong
Investigator(s):	Chu YK
Department:	Sociology
Source(s) of Funding:	Wu Jieh-Yee Research Fund
Start Date:	01/2005

Abstract:

There are 3 main objectives of this study. The first objective is to examine the prevalence and nature of crime in both study and residential campus in the University of Hong Kong from 2003 - 2004. Common characteristics that will be identified include (i) the types of crime; (ii) the time, day and place where the crime took place; (iii) the amount involved for property crime, criminal damage and fraud; and (iv) the circumtances that crime took place. The second objective is to assess perceived risk and fear of victimization amongst the university students. The third objective is help to develop effective location-specific and campus-wide security policies and crime prevention measures.

Project Title:	Crime Mapping of One-woman Brothels in North Point
Investigator(s):	Chu YK
Department:	Sociology
Source(s) of Funding:	Seed Funding Programme for Basic Research
Start Date:	02/2005

Abstract:

The aim of this research is to use crime mapping technology to analyse the geographical distribution of the one woman brothel in Hong Kong. North Point is selected to be a case study because the district has long been suffered by one-woman brothels. The Investigator has interviewed a couple of police officers in North Point and conducted field observations in the district. It was found that about eighty one-woman brothels are currently operating in North Point and a large number of sex workers are Fujianese new immigrants. Five specific objectives of this research are as follows: (1) To describe the trends of one-woman brothels in North Point in the last 10 years; (2) To analyse the geographical distribution of one-woman brothels in North Point; (3) To construct the time profiling of one-woman brothels as a business in North Point; (4) To work out social profile of sex workers and their clients in North Point; and (5) To make recommendations to law enforcement agencies on how to deal with one woman brothels effectively.

List of Research Outputs

Chu Y.K., Avoid Being Victimized, Fight Crime Initiatives Involving Senior Citizens of Seafaring Community and Sai Kung. The Marine East Division of the Hong Kong Police, 2008.

Chu Y.K., Emerging Social Conflicts in Hong Kong and their Implications to Policing Strategies, Management Development Programme. Hong Kong Police, 2007.

Chu Y.K. and Ho K.K., Hong Kong Chinese Inspectors (1940-60s) (Part 1), Off Beat. Hong Kong Police, 2007, 850: 3.

Chu Y.K. and Ho K.K., Hong Kong Chinese Inspectors in (1940-60s) (Part 2), Off Beat. Hong Kong Police, 2007, 851: 8.

Chu Y.K., Hong Kong Sex Crime, Hong Kong Hyde Park Forum. 2008.

Chu Y.K. and Chan C.C.Y., Policing One-woman Brothels in Hong Kong: Alternative Strategies, Asian Policing. 2007, 5(1): 3-14.

Chu Y.K., Policing Protest: The Western Experience, Cross Straits, Hong Kong and Macau Police Studies Conference. Hong Kong, Police Science Society of China, 2007.

Chu Y.K., Triads After 1997: A Global Perspective, The 9th Triad Course for Overseas Law Enforcement Officers. Hong Kong Police, 2007.

Tsang S.K.M. and Chu Y.K., Community Synergy to Promote Youth Development in Tin Shui Wai, Building Community Capacity: The Next Steps Seminar. Hong Kong, Central Policy Unit of HKSAR Government, 2007.

Tsang S.K.M. and Chu Y.K., Community synergy to promote youth development in Tin Shui Wai., Seminar on "Building community capacity: The next steps", jointly organized by the HKSAR Government Central Policy Unit, and the Department of Social Work and Social Administration of The University of Hong Kong.. 2007.

Tsang S.K.M. and Chu Y.K., Social cohesion in meeting youth development needs in deprived communities in Hong Kong: The case of Tin Shui Wai, The quest for social cohesion in Greater China: Challenges for social policy and governance, organied by HKU Faculty of Social Sciences and Centre of Asian Studies. 2008.

Researcher : Chu YW

List of Research Outputs

Chu Y.W., Market Rationality, Capitalist Prerogatives, or State Failures: an exploratory study of land rights protests in Hong Kong and Mainland China, 'Conditions of Knowledge and Cultural Production', The 6th Annual Conference of the Inter-Asia Cultural Studies Society. 2007.

Researcher : Evans GRJ

List of Research Outputs

Evans G.R.J., The Revival of Royal Funeral Rituals in Laos, In: Frances Pine and João de Pina-Cabral., On the margins of religion . Berghahn Books, 2008.

Researcher : Fong YC

List of Research Outputs

Kuah-Pearce K.E. and Fong Y.C., Student identity formation and negotiation in post-colonial Hong Kong, Fifth International Convention of Asia Scholars, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2 to 5 August 2007. (co-author: Fong Yiu-chak). . 2007.

Researcher : Ho KK

List of Research Outputs

Chu Y.K. and Ho K.K., Hong Kong Chinese Inspectors (1940-60s) (Part 1), Off Beat. Hong Kong Police, 2007, 850: 3.

Chu Y.K. and Ho K.K., Hong Kong Chinese Inspectors in (1940-60s) (Part 2), Off Beat. Hong Kong Police, 2007, 851: 8.

Researcher : Kong TSK

List of Research Outputs

Kong T.S.K., Asian Sexual Cultures, In: George Ritzer, Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology. Oxford, Blackwell, 2007, 4213-4218.

Kong T.S.K., Final plenary discussion , Cultural Studies Now: An International Conference, University of East London, England . 2007.

Kong T.S.K., My Own Private IDAHO: Notes on the Queer Sexual Culture in Post-Colonial Hong Kong, Cultural Studies Now: An International Conference, University of East London, England, 19-22 July 2007.

Kong T.S.K., Queer Asia: A Public Launch Event for a New Book Series of the Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong, 2008.

Wong W.C.W. and Kong T.S.K., To Determine Factors In An Initiation Of A Same-sex Relationship In Rural China: Using Ethnographic Decision Model , AIDS Care (Impact factor: 1.836). 2007, 19: 850-857.

Researcher : Kuah KE

Project Title:	State, society and religious philanthropy in the Chinese diaspora: a comparison of buddhist philanthropic culture in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan
Investigator(s):	Kuah-Pearce KE
Department:	Sociology
Source(s) of Funding:	Competitive Earmarked Research Grants (CERG)
Start Date:	01/2007

Abstract:

(1) The first is to describe and analyse the tripartite relationship among Buddhism, State and Society in the formation of a religious charity/ philanthropic culture in contemporary Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. (2) The second is to explore the dynamic relationships and influence of religious charity on the three societies through the study of the delivery of welfare, education and medical and other forms of social services. Through this the findings in study, I hope to establish a conceptual framework for the study of religion, politics and philanthropy in modern societies.

Researcher : Kuah-Pearce KE

Project Title:	State, society and religious philanthropy in the Chinese diaspora: a comparison of buddhist philanthropic culture in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan
Investigator(s):	Kuah-Pearce KE
Department:	Sociology
Source(s) of Funding:	Competitive Earmarked Research Grants (CERG)
Start Date:	01/2007

Abstract:

List of Research Outputs

Kuah-Pearce K.E., The State and Educational Governance in East Asia , In: Kuah-Pearce, KE, Panel Organiser, Fifth International Convention of Asia Scholars, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2 to 5 August 2007 (co-organiser: Jason Tan). 2007.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., "Collectives Memories as Cultural Capital: From Chinese Diaspora to Emigrant Hometowns”, , presented an invited lecture to National Taiwan Normal University (November 23, 2007,4:30 pm – 6:30pm). 2007.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., "Introduction: Locating Chinese Women in the Cyberspace” , In: Kuah-Pearce, KE, in Chinese Women and The Cyberspace, . Amsterdam, Amsterdam UP, 2008, 11- 24.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., :Memories as Cultural Capital", National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan. 2007.

Kuah-Pearce K.E. and Davidson A.P., At Home in the Chinese Diaspora: Memories, Identities and Belongings, In: Kuah-Pearce Khun Eng and Andrew P. Davidson (contribution 50%)., At Home in the Chinese Diaspora: Memories, Identities and Belongings. Richmond, UK, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008, 0000: 259.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., Chinese Women and The Cyberspace, In: Kuah-Pearce Khun Eng, Chinese Women and The Cyberspace. Amsterdam UP, 2008, 0000: 275.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., Chinese Women and The Cyberspace, IIAS Fellow Symposium, Leiden, the Netherlands, 28 May 2008, presentation via video-conference (book launch of my edited book Chinese Women and the Cyberspace, May 2008, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.. 2008.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., Collective Memories as Cultural Capital: From Chinese Diaspora to Emigrant Hometowns, IMMRC, University of Luuven, Belgium. 2008.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., Collective Memories as Cultural Capital: From Chinese Diaspora to Emigrant Hometowns, UFR Langues et Civilisations de l’Asie Orientale (LCAO), Paris Diderot University. 2008.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., Collective Memories as Cultural Capital: from Chinese Diaspora to Emigrant Hometowns, In: Kuah-Pearce KE and Andrew P. Davidson, At Home in the Chinese Diaspora: Memory and Belonging. Basingstoke, UK, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008, 0000: 111-127.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., Collectives Memories as Cultural Capital: From Chinese Diaspora to Emigrant Hometowns, 6th International Society for the Study of Chinese Overseas Conference, Peking University, Beijing, China, 20 – 23 September 2007.. 2007.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., Internet and Gender Empowerment: Comparing Chinese Women in Hong Kong and Shanghai”, presented an invited lecture to the Taipei Municipal University of Education (November 23, 2007, 1:30 pm – 3:30pm) Cultural Heritage as Cultural Capital: Management of Heritage by Singapore State , paper presented at the International Conference on “Asian Heritages at the Crossroads”, Centre for Anthropological Research, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 4-5 December 2007.. 2007.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., Internet as Social Capital and Social Network: Cyberactivity of Hong Kong and Shanghai Wome, CECMC (EHESS). 2008.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., Internet as Social Capital and Social Space: Cyberactivity of Hong Kong and Shanghai Women, In: Kuah-Pearce KE, Chinese Women and The Cyberspace. Amsterdam, Amsterdam UP, 2008, 0000: 25-47.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., Introduction: Diasporic Memories and Identities, In: Kuah-Pearce KE and Andrew P. Davidson, At Home in the Chinese Diaspora: Memory and Belonging. Basingstoke, UK, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008, 0000: 1-11.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., Member of Editorial Board, Contemporary Eastern Asia http://www.eastasia.at/cfp.htm)., 2007.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., Member of Editorial Board, Asian Anthropology (CUHK, Hong Kong). 2008.

Kuah-Pearce K.E. and Fong Y.C., Student identity formation and negotiation in post-colonial Hong Kong, Fifth International Convention of Asia Scholars, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2 to 5 August 2007. (co-author: Fong Yiu-chak). . 2007.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., The Poetics of Religious Philanthropy: Buddhist Welfarism in Singapore, In: Bryan S. Turner, Religious Diversity and Civil Society: A Comparative Analysis . Oxford, Bardwell Press, 2008, 0000: 167-185.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., Transnationalizing Buddhist Philanthropic Culture in the Asian Context , Paper presented at the Fifth International Convention of Asia Scholars, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2 to 5 August 2007.. 2007.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., Transnationalizing Compassion and the Emergent Cosmopolitan Feminist Spiritual Self , paper presented at IGU Commission on Gender and Geography: Transnational Lives: Feminist Perspectives on Citizenship, Home and Belonging (National Taiwan University, Taipei, November 24 – 26, 2007).. 2007.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., Vom chinesischen religiösen Synkretismus zum Reformbuddhismus: Religiöse Modernisierung in Singapur, In: Manfred Hutter (Hg.), Religionsinterne Kritik und religiöser Pluralismus im gegenwärtigen Südostasien. Frankfurt, Peter Lang Verlag, 2008, 15: 83 - 100.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., “Chinese Women and The Cyberspace”,, IIAS Fellow Symposium, Leiden, the Netherlands, 28 May 2008, presentation via video-conference (book launch of my edited book Chinese Women and the Cyberspace, May 2008, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.. 2008.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., “Collectives Memories as Cultural Capital: From Chinese Diaspora to Emigrant Hometowns”,, presented an invited lecture to the Taipei Municipal University of Education (24 March 2008).. 2008.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., “Collectives Memories as Cultural Capital: From Chinese Diaspora to Emigrant Hometowns”, 6th International Society for the Study of Chinese Overseas Conference, Peking University, Beijing, China. 2007.

Kuah-Pearce K.E., “Internet and Gender Empowerment: Comparing Chinese Women in Hong Kong and Shanghai”, , an invited lecture to the Taipei Municipal University of Education (November 23, 2007, 1:30 pm – 3:30pm) . 2007.

Researcher : Laidler KA

Project Title:	"Ice" in Hong Kong: past, present and future trends
Investigator(s):	Laidler KA
Department:	Sociology
Source(s) of Funding:	Vice-Chancellor's Office - General Award
Start Date:	06/1999

Abstract:

To study "Ice" in Hong Kong: past, present and future trends.

Project Title:	Reducing Hong Kong's serious youth crime through community intervention: an evaluation of operation breakthrough
Investigator(s):	Laidler KA
Department:	Sociology
Source(s) of Funding:	Small Project Funding
Start Date:	11/2003

Abstract:

To evaluate the impact of a community intervention program on serious young offenders in the NTN over a one-year period. The study will assess: (1) the patterns of arrest and re-arrest piror and subsequent to the intervention, and, (2) the attitudinal changes of serious offenders prior and subsequent to the intervention.

List of Research Outputs

Emerton R., Laidler K.A. and Petersen C.J., Trafficking of Mainland Chinese Women into Hong Kong's Sex Industry: Problems of Identification and Response, Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law. 2007, 2: 35-84.

Laidler K.A. and Mann R., Anti-Feminist Backlash and Gender Relevant Crime Initiatives in the Global Context, In: Laidler, K. and Mann, R., Feminist Criminology. 2008, 3: 79-81.

Laidler K.A., Corrections, In: Gaylord, M., Crime and Justice in Hong Kong. Hong Kong, Oxford University, 2008.

Laidler K.A., Final Report on the Evaluation of 4th Employment Symposium for Reintegration of Ex-offenders. Correctional Services Department, Hong Kong Government , Hong Kong, Centre for Criminology, 2007.

Laidler K.A., Human Trafficking: The Case of Hong Kong, In: Consulate General of Sweden, Swedish Institute, Centre for Comparative and Public law and Centre for Criminology., Human Trafficking: Regional and International Perspectives.. 2008.

Laidler K.A., Juvenile Delinquency and Restorative Justice in Hong Kong, In: Evangelical Lutheran Church-Youth Enhancement Scheme and Centre for Criminology., Towards a Restorative Communty: International Trend and Hong Kong Practice. 2008.

Laidler K.A. and Mann R., Special Issue: Women's Offending, Victimization, and the Antifeminist Backlash, Feminist Criminology. Sage, 2008, 3.

Laidler K.A. and Hunt G., The Cultural Meaning of Ketamine Use, Addiction, Theory and Research. 2008, 16: 259-271.

Researcher : Lee MSY

Project Title:	The polarisation of migrant workers in a global city
Investigator(s):	Lee MSY
Department:	Sociology
Source(s) of Funding:	Seed Funding Programme for Basic Research
Start Date:	03/2007

Abstract:

Hong Kong is an archetypal global city where different types of transnational migrant workers can be found forging social contacts and making a living across national borders. Indeed, one of the most striking migration flows within the region of southeast Asia has been that of women from the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, migrating to work as paid domestic workers in the region’s higher-growth areas. The current Filipina population is around 140,000, making them the largest non-Chinese community in Hong Kong (Hong Kong Immigration Department, 2001). Existing studies of these migrant domestic workers have tended to focus on the structural causes of the burgeoning ‘maid trade’, its impact on countries of origin (e.g. remittances, prolonged absence from children and families), working conditions and problems that migrant women encountered in destination countries. There is relatively little work on how and why migrant women move from one place to another, the impact of (increasingly restrictive) immigration policies on their trajectories and their everyday experiences in different locations. By contrast, expatriate professionals employed in the financial and corporate sectors constitute the elites of the global migrant population. They have been described as the embodiment of flows of knowledge, skills and intelligence in cross-border spaces, and transnational corporations offer highly attractive remuneration packages to encourage the flow of expatriate professional labour to HK. However, these hyper-mobile privileged groups are not completely protected from all dislocations and discomforts; there are still adaptations to make, changes to cope with. There is some existing literature to suggest that they establish informal, highly spatialized micro-networks and build on formal and institutional ties to ensure their every need is satisfied without recourse to the host community. To date, we know very little about the precise contours of their social networks, individual agency, their creation of transnational social spaces and relations with other migrant groups. Our proposed research project aims to examine the migration trajectories, lived experiences and intersections of these two contrasting groups of transnational migrant workers in Hong Kong - (a) high-income expatriate professionals typically working in technocratic-financial-managerial positions in transnational corporations, and (b) low-wage migrant workers typically working in manual and domestic services. These two segments of migration represent the twin poles of the processes of economic restructuring and circulation of labour currently taking place in the global economy. They have an unequal and yet symbiotic relationship in that the lives of the latter (for example, cleaners, traders, domestic workers) sustain the economic activities and lifestyles of the former (for example, expatriates in corporate professional jobs, international postings within the firms' transnational office network). For the hyper-mobile transnational elites, intense engagement with their work lives and the commodification of everyday household tasks and lifestyle (e.g. cooking, cleaning, childcare, conspicuous consumption) have arguably led to the return of the so-called ‘serving classes’ in high-income households in global cities. These new serving classes are, in turn, largely made up of migrant domestic workers in the second category of our study. So what are the differential experiences of these two groups of migrant workers in Hong Kong? Our proposed research project will focus on three aspects of migration and globalisation: 1. Migratory circuit and transnational career paths - How and why do these workers decide to migrate, and what kind of global pathways have they followed? What are the role and impacts of different brokerage institutions (for example, global staffing/Human Resource companies vs domestic worker recruitment agencies) in mediating individual migratory trajectories? Do these workers regard migration as a temporary blip, or the beginning of a whole new way of life? Where does the migration lead – back 'home' or on to distant lands, to social cohesion or to social exclusion, to improved or weakened social status? What impact does migration have on the individual's lifestyle in terms of work, leisure and consumption patterns? In all of these, the comparison of expatriates with migrant domestic workers will remain central. 2. Social networks - How and to what extent do these two groups draw on differential social networks and social capital as a potential resource in eking out a migratory existence? We will consider the extent to which variables such as ethnicity, gender, age, social and family background, migration trajectories and duration of stay in Hong Kong affect the contours of social capital and personal networks that are built and maintained. We are especially interested in the types of ties which are being forged (for example, organisational, family/kin, emotional, practical and multiplex relations) and the extent to which migrants use social networks to replace ties at home. We will examine how and if social networks in Hong Kong and elsewhere have helped migrant workers set up home in a multitude of different cities, find a job, cope emotionally and financially, help with childcare, with religion and interests/ hobbies/ social life, get information and advice, set up business, and facilitate their mobility. Do their networks become fixed/permanent/durable even as they, as individuals, remain transient? 3. Social space – An interesting feature of the daily lives of elite and low-paid migrant workers is that whilst they often share the same social space, they relate to that space in very different ways. How do the intersections of these two migrant groups play out (a) in the social relations of waged work in the private confines of high-income households and (b) in the use of public space? For the live-in migrant domestic worker, her temporary home in a foreign land is also her place of employment. How do transnational professionals and migrant domestic workers make this private space their 'home'? How does the possession or lack of social capital shape their differential use of urban spaces (e.g. for social interaction/segregation, personal freedoms/isolation)? How do these transient transnational actors fit into their local community? Do they have different cultural responses to the local community?

List of Research Outputs

Lee M.S.Y., In: Maggy Lee, Crime, Media, Culture: An International Journal. Sage, 2008.

Lee M.S.Y., Bosworth M. and Bowling B., Globalization, Ethnicity and Racism, Theoretical Criminology Journal. 2008, 12: 263-273.

Lee M.S.Y., Human Trafficking, In: Tim Newburn and Peter Neyroud, Dictionary of Policing. Cullompton, Willan, 2008.

Lee M.S.Y., Irregular Migration and Imprisonment, 7th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Geneva. 2008.

Lee M.S.Y., In: Maggy Lee, Sociology Journal. Sage, 2008.

Researcher : Moore M

Project Title:	Chinese entrepreneurship: comparative analysis
Investigator(s):	Moore M
Department:	Sociology
Source(s) of Funding:	Hang Seng Bank Golden Jubilee Education Fund for Research
Start Date:	03/2004

Abstract:

To carry out comparative analysis on Chinese entrepreneurship.

Researcher : Ng CH

Project Title:	Development of multi-media project -based socio-cultural education
Investigator(s):	Ng CH, Chan SCL
Department:	Sociology
Source(s) of Funding:	Teaching Development Grants
Start Date:	09/1997

Abstract:

To promote project-based, inter-departmental and inter-institutional learning and teaching activities; to create a task force unit to plan, organize and implement socio-cultural teaching and learning activities that make creative use of audio-visual media.

Project Title:	Female sexuality in Hong Kong
Investigator(s):	Ng CH, Cheng SL, Chan AKW
Department:	Sociology
Source(s) of Funding:	Small Project Funding
Start Date:	11/2002

Abstract:

To undertake a comprehensive sociological study of female sexuality in Hong Kong.

Project Title:	Family in flux: values, relations, and strategies in Hong Kong families
Investigator(s):	Ng CH, Chu YW, Chan AKW, Leung BKP, Wong TWP
Department:	Sociology
Source(s) of Funding:	Competitive Earmarked Research Grants (CERG)
Start Date:	10/2003

Abstract:

To provide a comprehensive portrait and analysis of the Hong Kong family in the light of the momentous changes that the society has gone through in recent years. We seek to answer the following three sets of questions: 1) Questions on family forms, practices and strategies such as: What new family forms and practices are created? Whate are the family's coping strategies? How do the material circumstances and coping strategies differ among different types of families (e.g. single-parent families versus conventional nuclear families; middle class families versus working class families)? 2) Questions on family relationships such as: To what extent are Hong Kong families an emotional haven? What is the nature of the husband-wife relationship, and the parent-child relationship? How do families deal with intergenerational conflicts? 3) Questions on values and expectations relating to the family such as: What do parents expect from their children and vice versa? What role does the family play in people's lives and how important is this role? What desirable qualities do parents want to see in their sons, as versus their daughters?

Project Title:	James Wong and Hong Kong Popular Culture
Investigator(s):	Ng CH
Department:	Sociology
Source(s) of Funding:	Small Project Funding
Start Date:	01/2006

Abstract:

This is a proposal to study the operation and impact of Hong Kong media and popular culture through a study of one of its prominent practitioners, James Wong Jum Sum. James Wong (1941-2004) was a multi-talented creator who had a prolonged and extremely successful engagement with various facets of Hong Kong media and cultural industries. Because of his unique position and contributions, James Wong's life and work offer us a fascinating entry point into the intricate and inimitable practices of the industries, and more broadly popular culture in Hong Kong.By studying the unpublished manuscripts and documents on the process of cultural creation left behind by James Wong, as well as collecting and analyzing fresh oral history interviews with practitioners related to James Wong's work, we hope to gain an in-depth understanding of the Hong Kong media industries. This will in turn help us address some of the key issues in media and cultural studies such as the role of creativity in commercial cultural production, how the cultural industries transform themselves in organization and operation through different stages of social development, how media products came to congeal the collective identity of a generation, and how cultural products in Hong Kong spread beyond the territory and exert major influences on other Chinese communities in an era of gloabization.

List of Research Outputs

Ng C.H., Sam Hui here and Now, 此時此處許冠傑, Hong Kong, Enrich, 2007, 290.

Researcher : Wong TWP

Project Title:	Hong Kong oral history archives
Investigator(s):	Wong TWP, Pun N, Sinn EYY
Department:	Sociology
Source(s) of Funding:	Central Allocation Vote - Group Research Project
Start Date:	06/2001

Abstract:

To systematically building up archives of oral materials relating to the history of Hong Kong.

List of Research Outputs

Wong T.W.P., East Asian Social Survey (EASS) 2006-07: Preliminary Findings from the Hong Kong Family Survey, EASS International Conference, HKUST, July 2007.

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